Transmitter-guard for power-tables



P. HLEB.

TRANSMITTER GUARD FOR POWER TABLES.

APPLICATION FI'LED' MAY 3, 19I9- Patented May 11, 1920;

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER HLEB, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER TUBING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed May 3, 1919. Serial No. 294,486.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER HLEB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transmitter-Guards for Power-Tables, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to guarding devices for the so-called power-transmitters or treadle controlled friction clutches commonly used in conjunction with power-operated sewing machines in factory installations; it being customary to distribute the sewing machines along power-tables'beneath which the line shafts, belts and power-transmitters are mounted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and efficient transmitterguard which may be readily displaced from operative position when it is desired to re move or apply the transmitter-belts or make adjustments in the transmitter mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a transmitter-guard which, when displaced from operative position, will fully expose the transmitter from the front and sides, and will remain in such displaced position without attention.

Still further, the invention has for an object to provide a transmitter-guard which when displaced from operative position will not be in the way of the'feet and knees of the operator and obstruct the floor space beneath the transmitter.

In its preferred embodiment, the present guard comprises a sheet-metal body of trough-like formation and including a front wall and spaced side walls; the upper part of said front wall being disposed in front of the transmitter and the lower part being in clined downwardly and rearwardly beneath the transmitter. The guard is hung from a horizontal rod secured to the under side of the table and of a length sufiieient to permit the guard to be shifted along said rod to position entirely at one side of the transmitter, in which displaced and out of the way position the guard will hang without re quiring the attention of the operator to maintain it in such position. A spring-clip is preferably utilized to hold the lower end of the guard. in operative position, there be In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the transmitter-guard as applied to a power-table. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View through a powertable showing the transmitter-guard in side elevation. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 2. Fig. f is a side elevation of the holder for the horizontal rod which supports the transmitter-guard, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the hinge connection between the transmitter-guard and its supporting rod.

The present improvement, in its preferred embodiment, is shown as applied to the usual sewing machine power-table comprising a table-top 1, legs 2, foot-board 8, and crossbrace 4 carrying one of a series of similar hangers 5 for the line shaft 6. The transmitting mechanism of such power-tables usually consists of a so-called power-transmitter or treadle-controlled friction clutch 7, the live member of which is belted up to the pulley 8 on the line shaft and the driven member of which is connected to the sewing machine 9 to be driven.

The transmitter-guard forming the subject matter of the present invention is preferably constructed of sheet-metal bent to the form of a trough and having a front wall 10 and spaced side walls 11 and 12 extending rearwardly therefrom. The upper part of the front wall 10 is disposed directly in front of the transmitter 7 and extends substantially vertically downwardly from the under side of the table-top 1. The lower part of the front wall 10, however, is inclined rearwardly 01' extended under the transmitter 7 to protect the latter, as shown in Fig. 2. The side wall 11 is provided with an extension 13 which is cut away at lit to embrace the transmitter-shaft '15.

The manner of mounting the transmitterguard is of importance in securing the objects of the invention. In the present instance a hanger in the form of a rod 16 is secured horizontally beneath and close to the under surface of the table-top 1 by means of a pair of clips 17 placed at the opposite ends of said rod. The clips 17 may be conveniently made up of sheet-metal strips bent to form upper and lOWGI holding elements riveted to the front wall 10 at 21.

l8 and 19; the upper element 18 being flat and the lower element 19 being arched to fit the rod 16.

The transmitter-guard is hung from the rod 16 and is adapted to be shifted in a direction lengthwise of said rod, when desired, to dotted line position, Fig. 1, to expose the transmitter 7. l Vithout intending to limit the present invention to the specific details of construction of the sliding hinge connection between the transmitter-guard and the tabletop, it is pointed out that a simple and efficient slidable supporting connection may be effected by bending the upper end of the front wall 10 of said guard into the form of a loop 20 inclosing the rod 16; the folded over extremity of the guard body being In the present embodiment of the invention the rod 16 is fixed in the holders 17 and the transmitter-guard is slidable endwise of the rod 16. I do not however, desire to be limited to the specific details of construction whereby the desired lateral shiftability of the transmitter-guard is secured, as various modifications of the construction illustrated would readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and having knowledge of the present disclosure.

The lower end of the transmitter-guard is held in place by means of a readily releasable catch such, for example, as the spring clip 22 having opposed resilient jaws 23 with outwardly flared extremities 24 which serve to guide said jaws into gripping relation with the stud 25 projecting upwardly from the foot-board 3.

It will be readily understood that the operator may, by pulling outwardly upon the lower end-portion of the front wall 10 or side walls 11 and 12, readily separate the jaws 24 from the stud 25 and then slide the transmittenguard laterally to dotted line position, Figs. 1 and 2, thereby fully exposing the transmitter; the entire operation requiring but two simple motions of the opera tors hand.

It will be noted that the floor space below the transmitter is entirely clear, even when the transmitter-guard is retracted from op erative position. Consequently the operz tor may easily and conveniently make the desired adjustments of the transmitter; both hands being free for that purpose. In replacing the transmitter-guard it is merely necessary to shift it toward the left and then push it inwardly until the spring-clip 22 including a powentransmitter, of a hanger mounted beneath said table, a transmitten guard slidably carried by said hanger for bodily movement from a protecting position in front of said transmitter to a position at one side of the latter, and a releasable catch for holding the lower end of said transmitter-guard in protecting position.

1-. The combination with a power-table including a tabletop, supporting legs, footboard, and power-transmit er mechanism, of a transmitter-guard comprising a troughshaped body, a rod fixed beneath the tabletop from which the upper end of said guard is slidably supported, a stud secured to said foot-board, and a spring-elip fixed to the lower end of said guard and adapted to snap over said stud when the guard is pushed inwardly to operative position.

5. In a transmitter-guard for power tables, the combination with a supporting rod mounted horizontally at the under side of the table-top, of a sheet-metal guardbody having a front wall and side walls extending rearwardly from said front wall and spaced apart a distance less than the length of said red, the upper extremity of said front wall being bent into the form of a loop enlbracing said supporting rod, whereby said guard is suspended for swinging and lateral sliding movements, permitting to be quickly shifted from or replaced in protecting position.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification.

PETER HLEB. 

